Multilayer coated blazed gratings with high groove density are the best candidates for use in high resolution EUV and soft x-ray spectroscopy. Theoretical analysis shows that such a grating can be potentially optimized for high dispersion and spectral resolution in a desired high diffraction order without significant loss of diffraction efficiency. In order to realize this potential, the grating fabrication process should provide a perfect triangular groove profile and an extremely smooth surface of the blazed facets. Here we report on recent progress achieved at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) in fabrication of high quality multilayer coated blazed gratings. The blazed gratings were fabricated using scanning beam interference lithography followed by wet anisotropic etching of silicon. A 200 nm period grating coated with a Mo/Si multilayer composed with 30 bi-layers demonstrated an absolute efficiency of 37.6percent in the 3rd diffraction order at 13.6 nm wavelength. The groove profile of the grating was thoroughly characterized with atomic force microscopy before and after the multilayer deposition. The obtained metrology data were used for simulation of the grating efficiency with the vector electromagnetic PCGrate-6.1 code. The simulations showed that smoothing of the grating profile during the multilayer deposition is the main reason for …

Powered operation of Cryomodule 1 (CM-1) at the Fermilab SRF Beam Test Facility began in late 2010. Since then a series of tests first on the eight individual cavities and then the full cryomodule have been performed. We report on the results of these tests and lessons learned which will have an impact on future module testing at Fermilab. Since November 2010 Cryomodule 1 has been operating at 2 Kelvin. After evaluating each of the eight cavities while individually powered, the entire module has recently been powered and peak operation determined as shown in Figure 4. Several more weeks of measurements are planned before the module is warmed up, removed and replaced with Cryomodule 2 now under assembly at Fermilab.

Astronomical or optical guide stars are either natural or artificial point sources located above the Earth's atmosphere. When imaged from ground-based telescopes, they are distorted by atmospheric effects. Knowing the guide star is a point source, the atmospheric distortions may be estimated and, deconvolved or mitigated in subsequent imagery. Extending the guide star concept to wave-based measurement systems to include acoustic, seismo-acoustic, ultrasonic, and radar, a strong artificial scatterer (either acoustic or electromagnetic) may be buried or inserted, or a pre-existing or natural sub-surface point scatterer may be identified, imaged, and used as a guide star to determine properties of the sub-surface volume. That is, a data collection is performed on the guide star and the sub-surface environment reconstructed or imaged using an optimizer assuming the guide star is a point scatterer. The optimization parameters are the transceiver height and bulk sub-surface background refractive index. Once identified, the refractive index may be used in subsequent reconstructions of sub-surface measurements. The wave-base guide star description presented in this document is for a multimonostatic ground penetrating radar (GPR) but is applicable to acoustic, seismo-acoustic, and ultrasonic measurement systems operating in multimonostatic, multistatic, multibistatic, etc., modes.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is operational and conducting experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The NIF is the world's largest and most energetic laser experimental facility with 192 beams capable of delivering 1.8 megajoules of 500-terawatt ultraviolet laser energy, over 60 times more energy than any previous laser system. The NIF can create temperatures of more than 100 million degrees and pressures more than 100 billion times Earth's atmospheric pressure. These conditions, similar to those at the center of the sun, have never been created in the laboratory and will allow scientists to probe the physics of planetary interiors, supernovae, black holes, and other phenomena. The NIF's laser beams are designed to compress fusion targets to the conditions required for thermonuclear burn, liberating more energy than is required to initiate the fusion reactions. Experiments on the NIF are focusing on demonstrating fusion ignition and burn via inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The ignition program is conducted via the National Ignition Campaign (NIC) - a partnership among LLNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and General Atomics. The NIC program has also established collaborations with the Atomic Weapons Establishment in the …

A primary justification for the establishment of energy efficiency standards for home appliances is the existence of information deficiencies and externalities in the market for appliances. For example, when a long-term homeowner purchases a new gas-fired water heater, she will maximize the value of her purchase by comparing the life-cycle cost of ownership of available units, including both total installed cost - purchase price plus installation costs - and operating cost in the calculus. Choice of the appliance with the lowest life-cycle costs leads to the most economically efficient balance between capital cost and fuel cost. However, if the purchaser's expected period of ownership is shorter than the useful life of the appliance, or the purchaser does not pay for the fuel used by the appliance, as is often the case with rental property, fuel cost will be external to her costs, biasing her decision toward spending less on fuel efficiency and resulting in the purchase of an appliance with greater than optimal fuel usage. By imposing an efficiency standard on appliances, less efficient appliances are made unavailable, precluding less efficient purchases and reducing fuel usage. The reduction in fuel demanded by residential users affects the total demand for such …

Multilayer coated blazed gratings with high groove density are the most promising candidate for ultra-high resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy. They combine the ability of blazed gratings to concentrate almost all diffraction energy in a desired high diffraction order with high reflectance soft x-ray multilayers. However in order to realize this potential, the grating fabrication process should provide a near perfect groove profile with an extremely smooth surface of the blazed facets. Here we report on successful fabrication and testing of ultra-dense saw-tooth substrates with 5,000 and 10,000 lines/mm.

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Hydrogen is a promising energy source for the future economy due to its environmental friendliness. One of the important obstacles for the utilization of hydrogen as a fuel source for applications such as fuel cells is the storage of hydrogen. In the infrastructure of the expected hydrogen economy, hydrogen storage is one of the key enabling technologies. Although hydrogen possesses the highest gravimetric energy content (142 KJ/g) of all fuels, its volumetric energy density (8 MJ/L) is very low. It is desired to increase the volumetric energy density of hydrogen in a system to satisfy various applications. Research on hydrogen storage has been pursed for many years. Various storage technologies, including liquefaction, compression, metal hydride, chemical hydride, and adsorption, have been examined. Liquefaction and high pressure compression are not desired due to concerns related to complicated devices, high energy cost and safety. Metal hydrides and chemical hydrides have high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities but encounter issues because high temperature is required for the release of hydrogen, due to the strong bonding of hydrogen in the compounds. Reversibility of hydrogen loading and unloading is another concern. Adsorption of hydrogen on high surface area sorbents such as activated carbon and organic …

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